Daejeon Prison. [Herald DB]
Daejeon Prison. [Herald DB]

Daejeon Prison is set to open a "smart medical center" that will allow inmates to receive specialist care without leaving the facility — a first for any correctional institution in South Korea.

The prison announced Wednesday that it is working with the Daejeon Medical Association to establish the center, aiming to close gaps in inmate healthcare and reduce the administrative burden and safety risks that come with escorting prisoners to outside hospitals.

While basic medical services are already available inside the prison, inmates requiring specialist treatment have had to rely on remote consultations or be transported to external hospitals. That process strains staff resources and carries the risk of safety incidents.

Daejeon Prison and the Daejeon Medical Association agreed to build a dedicated facility equipped with the tools and infrastructure needed for specialist care. The center will focus on areas that have historically been difficult to provide inside correctional facilities, including psychiatry, ophthalmology and otolaryngology. Specialist physicians affiliated with the Daejeon Medical Association will visit the prison on a regular basis to conduct consultations.

The prison said the smart medical center is expected to open by the end of this year and will be the first of its kind in the country.

Im Jeong-hyeok, president of the Daejeon Medical Association, and other association officials visited the prison Wednesday to inspect the planned site and existing medical facilities and to discuss how the care system would be structured.

"We expect the new smart medical center to significantly strengthen inmates' right to healthcare," said Kim Jae-sul, warden of Daejeon Prison. Im said local medical professionals had united to ensure inmates receive appropriate specialist care even within the unique constraints of a correctional setting.


betterj@heraldcorp.com